The invention relates to a lock assembly and more specifically to a gun lock assembly.
A major concern of gun owners is that unauthorized access to loaded guns often results in accidental injury or a death of a person. All too often a child finds a loaded gun resulting in their being shot/or the shooting the gun and injuring another person.
Another major concern is for one""s personal safety and protection from persons breaking into the home and the need to have a loaded gun to defend oneself.
It is an object of the invention to provide a novel gun lock assembly that can be easily installed on the trigger guard of a firearm.
It is another object of the invention to provide a novel gun lock assembly that prevents a loaded firearm from being fired by anyone not having the key to unlock the lock.
It is also an object of the invention to provide a novel gun lock assembly that allows the lock housing to be slid forwardly far enough after being unlocked so that the firearm can be fired without the lock housing being removed from the firearm.
It is a further object of the invention to provide a novel gun lock assembly that is economical to manufacture and market.
It is an additional object of the invention to provide a novel gun lock assembly that can be made in different models that will work with handguns and rifles.
It is also an object of the invention to provide a novel gun lock assembly that allows the owner to keep a loaded gun unlocked for instantaneous protection.
It is another object of the invention to provide a novel gun lock assembly which when unlocked cannot be slid forwardly by a child to a position making it possible to fire the handgun.
The gun lock assembly provides a dual locking system for a firearm such as a handgun or a rifle. When the lock housing is slid rearwardly on the lock housing support assembly this position completely hides the trigger of the firearm. Next the key in the lock assembly is turned to a vertical position and removed. Noone is then able to access the trigger of the firearm.
The novel gun lock assembly has been designed to allow the owner to keep a loaded firearm immediately available for protection and use, by turning the key of the lock assembly to its horizontal unlocked position and removing the key. The spring loaded release buttons in the bottom of the lock housing are depressed upwardly a sufficient distance to release the lock housing for a sliding movement forwardly to a position that uncovers the trigger of the firearm. This allows a person to shoot the firearm with out removing the gunlock assembly. The pressure required to depress the release buttons is sufficient enough to make it inoperable by a small child and therefore deny access to the trigger of the gun by a small child.
A second structure to deter access to the trigger by a small child is the release buttons and their actuating mechanism. They would not be visible because the bottom wall of the lock housing would be covered by an overmolded layer of plastic material hiding the release buttons concealing any indication that there is an actuating mechanism under the surface of the plastic overmold layer.
The novel gun lock assembly allows a person to keep a loaded gun readily available for immediate access if threatened by an intruder trying to break into their home. The gun owner can access use of the handgun in an instant by depressing the spring loaded button on the bottom wall of the lock housing and pulling rearwardly on the handgun to uncover the trigger so that the handgun can be ready to fire.
The gun lock assembly has two primary components, the lock housing and the lock housing support assembly. The lock housing support assembly is attached to the vertical leg portion of the trigger guard and would normally remain thereon, except when it would be desired to remove the entire gunlock assembly. The lock housing has a tubular shape with internal left and right side wall grooves that mate with the external configuration of the lock housing support assembly. The grooves form a track to make the lock housing easily slidable onto the lock housing support assembly.
The lock housing support assembly has a latch positioned adjacent its front end which interacts with the latch finger on the lock assembly. When the lock housing is pushed to the rearward most position on the handgun, the lock key is turned to the vertical upright position causing the latch finger to travel upwardly into the latch member which prevents forward longitudinal motion or sliding motion of the lock housing. Once the key is removed, no one has access to the trigger of the firearm unless they have the key.
The bottom wall of the lock housing has two longitudinally spaced apertures. At the rear of the interior bottom wall a ramp is formed for the purpose discussed below. The lock housing support assembly has a spring loaded release button extending from its bottom end that rides up the ramp as the lock housing is slid rearwardly over the lock housing support assembly. When the spring loaded release button drops into the first aperture, the trigger is still accessible and the gun may be fired. By pushing the bottom of the spring loaded release button up far enough into the interior of the lock housing, the lock housing can be slid rearwardly a further distance until the spring loaded release button drops into the second aperture. At that position, the side walls of the lock housing completely hide the trigger of the firearm from view and make it inaccessible.
The force required to depress the spring loaded release button is designed to prevent a small child from being able to depress the release button a sufficient distance that would allow him to slide the lock housing forward. Also, the bottom surface of the lock housing has a plastic overmold layer that conceals the existence of the release button making it even more child proof.